Clarence ringwald



C. RINGWALD Aug, 25, 1931 .Dlv Fon ENGINE snm-ans Re, 18,164

original Filed oct. 2,4, 1924 z, amuniy/ Ww HA@ f v Clarence z'rggwaafA;

Reseued Aug. 25, 1931 UNITI-:D STATES PATENT OFFICE CLARENCE RINGWALD,'or NORTH HAMPTON, oHroAssIGNoR, BY DIRECT ANn MESNI:

ASSIGNMENTS, T0 lECLIPSE MACHINE COMPANY, 0F.`ELMIBA HEIGHTS, NEW YORK,

A CORPQR ATION OF NEW YORK DRIVE ron. menta s'ramnns Original No.1,597,330, dated August 24 1926, Seria1 No. 745,555,1i1ed October 24,1924. Application' for My invention relates to drives for enginestarters. I am aware thatheretofore it has been the practice in startinginternal 'combustion engines to employ a threaded sleeve 5 mounted uponthe motor shaft and connected to said motor shaft by a springconnection. An internally threaded drive pinionA forms a nut for saithreaded sleeve and it is moved Vaxially into mesh with the ring gear onthe Iiy wheel of the engine by rotation of the motor shaft and itsthreaded sleeve, and after the nut or pinion is 4meshed with said ringgear, it is rotated to turn the iy wheel and thus crank the engine.

In such devices, the parts must fit loosely -and move easily, becausethe pinion nut is held by inertia while it moves axially into mesh withthe ring gear. Since the sleeve is interposed between the pinion and theshaft, there lis excessive play and lost motion with consequent frictionin the gear teeth and inaccuracy in fit of the parts. The interposirtionof the sleeve also demands a-pinion of larger diameter with consequentlyless leverage.

According to my invention, I make the parts fewer in number b having thepinion provided with an axial y extending sleeve which sleeve and pinionare unitary and fit upon the motor shaft. An external nut connectedthrough a spring connection with the motor shaft then serves to threadthe pinion and its sleeve into mesh with the ring ear on the fly wheeland thussecure meshying between the driving pinion and the ring By theemployment of my invention, it is possible to use a pinion of smallerdiameter with a consequent increase in starter ratio. The use of myinvention gives greater in ertia to the pinion withoutv the addition ofextra material' for that purpose. The pinion, furthermore, is nowmounted upon the ground motor shaft with a fine fit, thereby securingaccurate centering and better support, not only from the motor shaft,but also from the bearings of the motor. Also there is less pounding andtilting of the pinionp' Furthermore, the 'construction permits the 1928.Serial No. 301,667.

a specific embodiment of the same in connecticn with theV accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Y Flgure 1 -is a side elevational view of a device embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical'longi'tudinal sectional view through the same;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section vtaken on the -line 3-3 of Fig. 2;,and

Fig. 4-is a similar transverse section taken Ion the line 4-.4 of Fig.2.

The bearing 1 of .the driving motor suports'the motor shaft 2, thismotor shaft avlng a shoulder 3 and a reduced portion` 4 extendingrtherefrom, this reduced portion being carefully ground to fit theinterior 4of 1 the pinion andsleeve member 5 which litsv upon saidshaftv 4. The pinion and sleeve member' is a unit-ary member comprisinga pinion 6 and a threaded portion 7 extending to the rear of the same.Upon the rear end of 4the threaded sleeve 7 I provide an unbalanced stopnut' 8 which is securely fastened upon' the rear end of the threadedpart 7 to` provide a stop in conjunction with the y driving nut 9 whenthey two parts areenf gaged. This stop nut 8 is eccentric and ispreferably threaded upon the end of the -threaded sleeve 7 by screwthreads of fine pitch inclined in a direction such as to producetightening of the nuty 8 thereupon when it engages the nut TheV threaded'sleeve 7 has screw thread fof coarse pitch and preferably of multiplethread.

The nut 9 is connected togthe end of a suitable spring 10, theend of thespring being formedinto a loop or eye at 11 and the ma- `chine'screw 12passing radially through said eye 11 and into the nut 9 and being heldagainst rotation by a suitable bendable lock washer 13.

pinion to be driven closer .to the bearing of At the outer end of themotor shaft lt, I

provide a collar 14, to which the outer end of the spring 10 isconnected in a similar manner to its connection through the nut 9. Theouter end of the spring. 10 has an eye 15 through which passes 4a bolt16, this Abolt being passed intoithe body of the collar 14 and engagingthe end of the shaft 4. 'Ihe shaft 4 iskeyed-to said collar 14 inaddition to the engagement of the bolt 16 for rigidlyeonnecting saidcollar 14 andthe end of the shaft 4. A

A pair of, sheet metal sleeve members 17 and 18 are passed under theends of the spring 10 on the collar 14 and the nut 9, respectively,these sheet metal sleeves vserving to exclude foreign matter from thethreads of the sleeve 7 ,and serving also as a support for theconvolutions of the helical spring 10, and as a container for lubricant.

The pinion 6 and shaft 4 are mounted closely adjacent the ring vgear 2lon the {iy wheel 22 of the motor, the parts being so designed as topermit the pinion 6 torun axially up to the shoulder 3 or closelyadiacent thereto, when the stopl nut v8 engages the end of the drivingnut 9.

The operation of the device is as follows: The shaft 4 being set closelyadjacent the ring gear 21 and in proper endwise adjustment, rotation ofthe motor shaft 2 in a counter clockwise direction as' viewed from theright of Figs. 1 and 2 results in a movement of the connected parts,namely, the collar 14, bolt 16, spring 10, bolt 12, and driving nut 9.The inertia of the pinion and sleeve member 5, together with theeccentric nut 8, tends to hold these parts against rotation while thenut 9 is rotated-'toadvance the pinion 6 axially,luntil it strikes theteeth of the ring gear 21 and meshes with the same, whereupon engagementof the stop collar 8 with the end of the driving nut 9, results inrotation of the pinion 6l and consequent driving of the ring gear 21 tocrank the engine. Upon starting of the engine in the same direction at aspeed greater than the speed of the nut, the member 5 com-I prising thepinion 6 and the threaded sleeve 7, will be carried back axially to theleft,`as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. It will be obvious that, ifdesired, a collar may be provided at the left end of the pinion 6 asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, or that if desired 5; the pinion 6may be runupagainst the shoulder 3 on the shaft2. On the return motion the pinionstops by -engaging the v`outer face of collar 9.

From the foregoing, it'vvill be seen that I have provided a constructionwhich permits of a pinion of a minimum number of teeth and of a minimumdiameter,,in order to secure a maximum starting ratio. At the same,time,\therearwardly extending threaded sleeve -7 gives the pinion 6greater inertia vWithout increasing the .diameter of the same and thusmakes for certainty of operation. The pinion6 is held accurately andwith much greater bearing on the ground shaft section 4 than has beenpossible in devices of the prior art. \It will be noted that the pinioncan now be brought up to the motor bearings, since no collar is requiredat the inner end ofthe pinion as in devices of the prior art, and bettersupport ,is thereby gained. In addition to the above stop the forwardmovement of the member. 2. Incombination, a drivmg shaft, an eX-ternally-threadcd sleeve onsaid shaft having an integral pinion at oneend, an internally threaded collar embracing the threads on said sleeve,a stop collar on the end of the sleeve opposite said pinion, a collarnonrotatably secured to said driving shaft, anda helical springconnecting said last named collar and said internally threaded collarand extending over the end of said sleeve and` its attached stop collar.

3. In combination, a rotatable motor shaft, vacne-,piece sleeve andpinion member mounted directly on said shaft, a threaded nut embracingthe sleeve, 'a collar on the end of the motor shaft and a coil springbetween said collar and said nut and telescoping over said sleeve.

4. In combination, a motor shaft, a unitary sleeve .and pinion member.mounted thereon, said sleeve having a threaded portion terminating inSa shoulder, 'a nut threaded on said sleeve, an attaching collar mountedon ,and secured to said motor shaft, a helical drive spring connectingsaid nut and collar, and means for supporting the convolutions of saidspring.

5. In combination, a motor shaft adapted to be closely positionedadjacent a ring gear for an internal' combustion engine, a threadedsleeve and pinion member mounted directly on said shaft, said pinionforming` a shoulder at one end of the threaded sleeve and a stop collarmounted at the other end of the threaded sleeve and forming a shoulder,a threaded nut between said shoulders on said threaded sleeve, la collarsecured on the outer end of the motor shaft and a coi-l springconnecting said collar with said threaded nut and embracing the sleeve:

6. In combination, a. sleeve member bearing a coarse external thread andhaving a pinion on one end, a threaded vcollar on said threaded part ofthe sleeve member, an attaching collar, a yielding member concentricwith said sleeve between and secured to said two collars, the collar onthel sleeve being otherwise free from the attaching collar, and a stopon the threaded end of the sleeve for engaging the threaded collar tostop the forward movement of the member, said yieldable member beingyieldable axially.

7. In combina-tion, a driving shaft, an externally threaded sleeve onsaid shaft having an integral pinion at one end, an internally threadedcollar embracing the threads on said sleeve, a stop collar on the end ofthe sleeve'of the said pinion, a collar non-rotatably secured to saiddriving shaft, and a fiexible member between and secured to said collaron the shaft and said internally threaded collar, said membertransmitting the entire drive between said n'onrotatable collarand saidthreaded collar.

8. In Combination, a rotatable motor shaft, a one-piece sleeve andpinion member mountcd directly on said shaft and comprising a threadedintegral sleeve, a nut on the sleeve, a collar on the end of the motorshaft, and a member yieldable angularly and axially of the shaftbe'lween and secured to said collar and said nut.

9. In combination, a driving shaft, a onepiece sleeve and pinion membermounted on the drivingr shaft, a threaded nut on said sleeve, saidsleeve having a threaded portion with a shoulder at the rear end of thethreaded portion, an attaching collar mounted on and secured to theshaft, and a flexible coupling member between and secured to the collarand the nut and telescoping with said sleeve.

10. In combination with a driving shaft having a bearing, a sleeve andpinion member mounted on said shaft with the pinion end towards thebearing, said sleeve having a threaded portion, a threaded nut on thesleeve, an attaching collar on the outer vend of the shaft, and a memberflexible angularly and axiallly of the shaft for connecting said nut andcol ar and transmitting the entire drive between them.

11. In combination a rotatable motor j shaft, a sleeve and pinionmember, a collar threaded on the sleeve, a collar fixed on the motorshaft, and a member yieldable axially of the shaft connected betweensaid two coll, a' second member carrled bythe sleeve and cooperatingwith the first member for clutching the two members together whelythesleeve ha-s been moved in one direction into full operative position,andayielding driving conne'ction between said first mcmber andthe shaft,said connection yielding axially of the shaft.

13. In combination, a drive shaft, a sleeve on the shaft, a pinion rigidwith the sleeve, a member having threaded connection with the'shaft forshifting the latter lengthwise on the shaft, means comprising a coilspring connecting the shaft and said member' and establishing a drivingconnection therebetween, said spring yieldingr axially of the shaft andthe sleeve being otherwise free for sliding movement in both directionson the Shaft, said shaft and the sleeve having relative rotarymoven'lent, and means cooperating with the shifting member forestablishing driving connections between the saine and the sleeve whenthe latter has been shifted into full operative position.

14. In combination, a drive shaft. a sleeve loose on the shaft forrelative sliding and rotary movements, a pinion rigid with the sleeveand movable therewith, a rotatable collar concentric with the sleeve andhaving threaded connection therewith, a collar secured to the shaft, acoil spring disposed about the shaft and between the collars, the endsof the spring being secured to said collars and the sleeve beingotherwise free for sliding movement in both directions upon the shaft,and a collar secured to the sleeve and disposed for contact with saidrotatable collar forestablishing driving connections be-A tween the sameand the sleeve when said sleeve has been shifted into its full operativeposition.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 21stV da ofAugust, 1928.

CLARE 'CE RINGWALD.

